In cases where complex, multi-faceted surgical procedures are required, the ability to predetermine the best possible outcome is key. Anatomical modeling – made possible through the use of advanced 3D printing systems – allows surgical teams like MetroHealth’s Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to evaluate several different treatment scenarios before deciding on a plan that ensures these needs are met.

The MetroHealth system is one of the largest, most comprehensive health care providers in Northeast Ohio, serving the medical needs of the Greater Cleveland community for 170 years. In the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, patient care concentrates on maxillofacial trauma, oral pathology, facial reconstruction, correction of facial deformity, dentoalveolar surgery, dental implants and ambulatory anesthesia.

The MetroHealth oral and maxillofacial surgery team needed a solution that would let them optimize the outcome of comprehensive reconstructive oral procedures, while at the same time minimizing invasiveness and discomfort for the patient. Objet Geometries Eden500V™ 3D Printing System provided an ideal solution, as it enabled the team to quickly create multiple, large-scale anatomical models that would help them to identify the most suitable solutions for each case. Surgical positioning templates, fabricated on the anatomical model surgical simulation, assisted with pre-surgical planning and provided the desired intraoperative positioning verification. These templates also facilitated the harvesting of the exact size and shape of the required bone graft.

“The surgical positioning templates play a crucial role in pre-surgical planning, allowing for shorter surgical time and exposure as well as less manipulation of transplanted bone graft tissues,” explains Jon P. Bradrick, DDS, Associate Professor, Director, Division of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, MetroHealth Medical Center. “I was particularly impressed with the model fabrication’s quick four-day turnaround time. This is the finest example of technology driving the globalization of health care.” He added.

Based on Objet’s innovative PolyJet™ technology, the Eden500V 3D Printer provides an easy to use, fast and clean solution for the precise building of medical models. Models produced on the Eden500V are durable, with exceptionally fine details and an outstanding surface finish – all necessary for ensuring the high degree of accuracy required by the MetroHealth surgical team.

“I was particularly impressed with the model fabrication’s turnaround time. This is the finest example of technology driving the globalization of health care.”

Objet models are widely used in many medical modeling applications because of their high accuracy, fast build time, and ease of model sterilization. The models are also highly resilient, enabling drilling and fixing of screws and model plates in a similar way to human bone tissue. Furthermore, support removal that preserves thin and delicate structures, as well as the lack of an after-production step that can degrade the model surface, make it possible to build complex models of human anatomical structures even more delicate than bone, such as blood vessels.

“Due to the complexity of the procedures we perform, it’s imperative that the models we create are identical to the actual settings in which we’ll be operating. The high resolution provided by the Eden 500V allows this to happen,” explains Dr. Bradrick.